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A statewide manhunt is underway in Texas for 33-year-old Seth Altman, who is suspected of injuring a law enforcement officer. A Blue Alert was issued early Friday (October 4) morning by the Texas Department of Public Safety. Altman is believed to have shot Memphis Police Chief Rex Plant multiple times late Thursday night while an arrest warrant for burglary was being served. Plant is currently in stable condition in a Lubbock hospital.
Altman was last seen on foot around 11:04 p.m. on Thursday in the 200 block of South 4th Street, heading toward U.S. Highway 287 in Memphis, Texas. He is described as a white male, approximately 6 feet 2 inches tall, and weighs about 220 pounds. He has blue eyes and red or auburn hair and was last seen wearing a blue T-shirt and blue jeans.
Authorities have warned that Altman is considered armed and dangerous and have advised the public not to approach him but to call 911 if he is spotted. Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to contact the Hall County Sheriff’s Office at 806-259-2636.
Many Texas residents were upset that they received the alert so early in the morning and took to X to voice their displeasure.
"Texas sending a “blue alert” at 4:50am in the morning is an abuse of the emergency alert system. How many people were woken up in the middle of their sleep by it? Ridiculous," Matt Hopkins wrote on X.
According to WFAA, the Texas Department of Public Safety is only supposed to send out statewide AMBER or Blue Alerts between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. It is not clear why the alert was sent outside of those hours.